The AIHL made the announcement that the league would return for a regular season and finals for 2022 on 6 December 2021, ending two years of cancelled competition and exhibition series'.
Within Australia, more matches would be made available through partner broadcaster Kayo Sports, expanding on previous deals that included one game a round on delay.
[7] Thirdly, the AIHL will be setting up a new national community partnership to help showcase elite hockey in Australia.
The League began the search in October 2021 and concluded five months later in February 2022 by announcing Benny Gebert and Glen Foll as the successful bidders for the license.
[8][7] In March, the AIHL announced it had signed a three-year deal with Swiss-based Sportradar to become the league's global distributor of game streams and media rights.
It means the teams finishing third and fourth in the regular season will be required to play at least two games to reach the grand final and compete for the Goodall Cup.
[11] Expanding on the league's earlier announcement from February, in late April 2022, the AIHL revealed further details around the Kayo Sports domestic broadcasting deal for the 2022 season.
The Thunder did offer the possibility of exhibition matches being played in Perth in 2022 to compensate for the unfortunate situation for its players, staff, fans and sponsors.
[16] The Adrenaline deemed the subsequent draft agreement proposed by the IceArenA management for use of the facility for the 2022 AIHL season as non-equitable and unviable.
The Melbourne Ducks played exhibition matches against AIHL teams in 2021 but decided to join the new Pacific Hockey League in 2022.
[23] Ice Hockey Queensland (IHQ) subsequently decided to withdraw their endorsement of the Rampage and seek an AIHL license themselves in partnership with Brisbane Buccaneers and the Southern Stars.
[31][32] Both the Lightning and Rhinos will play exhibition matches in 2022 with a view for both to join the AIHL regular league schedule in 2023.
[27][30] The Brisbane Lightning, Central Coast Rhinos and Perth Thunder all announced in pre-season that they would be perusing to play exhibition games during the AIHL 2022 regular season.
Most games were announced with the release of the revised AIHL 2022 season schedule on 8 April 2022,[6] however, the first exhibition series between the Sydney Bears and Newcastle Northstars was made public on 17 March 2022 and consisted of two pre-season match ups at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle and Macquarie Ice Rink in North Sydney.
[34] Subsequently, the AIHL Player Safety Committee concluded its investigation into the incident that led to the abandoned game and made the following ruling.
[39] Adelaide Adrenaline and head coach Sami Mantere parted ways following the cancellation of the 2020 season.
Mantere chose to sign for Adelaide Avalanche in March 2022 for the inaugural season of the Pacific Hockey League.
[40] Also in March, the newly formed Brisbane Lightning announced Terry Kiliwnik as their maiden head coach and Ivan Rapchuk as his assistant.
[42] The Melbourne Ice turned to a familiar long term servant of the club with their appointment of Sandy Gardner as head coach for 2022.
[43] Canberra announced Stuart Philps would be retained as head coach for 2022, following his signing in the lead up to the cancelled 2020 season.
[105] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advance to the finals weekend, which is to be held at O’Brien Icehouse in Docklands, Melbourne.
The top two teams from the AIHL regular season play-off in the major semi-final for an automatic spot in the Goodall Cup final.
[108] The Brave won the grand final, defeating the Northstars, to lift the Goodall Cup for the second time in the team's history.
Hughes continued to extend his record as the most decorated player in AIHL history, winning his seventh Goodall Cup.
[111] Game was cancelled and replaced with a Trans-Tasman Challenge thee-game series between the Australian and New Zealand national teams, held at O'Brien IceHouse in Melbourne between 4 and 6 November 2022.